Reader's View: Why the Winans-Crippen House matters

Franklin Square was one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods at the time local merchant David Winans commissioned noted architect J.D. Stevens, who had designed the United States and Grand Union hotels on Broadway, to design the new home he would build in 1871 at 66 Franklin St.

Today, the Winans-Crippen House located at 66 Franklin St. is a "contributing structure" in the Franklin Square Historic District, a designation that means it is representative of the district's key architectural, cultural and historic features.

Saratoga Springs is fortunate to have more than 1,000 historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

These buildings are a shared community asset that the city's Design Review Commission is charged with protecting under terms spelled out in the city's Historic Review Ordinance, enacted in 1977.

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The purpose of the Historic Review Ordinance is to preserve and protect historic buildings.

The Winans-Crippen House is exactly the kind of structure the Historic Review Ordinance is designed to save.

The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation is advocating not only to preserve this important historic building, but also to preserve the integrity of the Historic Review Ordinance.

During the last 40 years, this ordinance has played a vital role in the city's economic revitalization -- an achievement that is plainly seen in awards our community has received, including being ranked among the nation's 100 best places to live by a CNN-Money poll.

Three years ago, the owner of 66 Franklin St. -- attempting to bypass the city's Historic Review Ordinance -- sought an improper order to demolish this historic property.

The Preservation Foundation intervened, and the State Supreme Court and the City Court sided with the foundation's position that the owner must bring his request to the Design Review Commission, as the ordinance dictates.

The owner is now before the Design Review Commission with a request to demolish the building, a process that requires anyone who owns a historic structure to: prove that the building is unsafe; show that the building cannot be preserved; and submit an acceptable redevelopment plan if the building is to be demolished.

The owner of 66 Franklin St. has satisfied none of these requirements.

First, the owner has failed to prove the building is unsafe.

Independent experts, in fact, have determined the building is not in danger of collapse and does not pose a hazard to the public.

Second, the owner has failed to prove the building cannot be restored.

The exterior of the Winans-Crippen House retains the rich architectural features that originally qualified it to be listed as a contributing building on the National Register of Historic Places.

With a reasonable amount of work, the building could be stabilized and the exterior brought up to code.

Other buildings in the city that once were in similar condition have been restored in past years, much to the benefit of our community.

Finally, the owner has failed to submit the required development plan and he has provided no indication of what he intends to build in place of the structure at 66 Franklin St.

He has told the DRC he will simply raze this historic building and leave in its place a vacant lot.

When a historic building is purchased in this city, the owner knowingly assumes a responsibility beyond the building to the shared history and attraction of Saratoga Springs. By providing reasonable and necessary protections to historic buildings, the city's Historic Review Ordinance for 40 years has ensured that owners of these properties meet this responsibility and thereby protected Saratoga's history from short-term interests.

No owner should be allowed to demolish a historic building without complying with the essential requirements of the city's Historic Review Ordinance.

If these requirements are ignored in the case of 66 Franklin St., then all historic properties in this community are threatened.

Chris Armer is president of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation board.